Obesity
Sarah Phippen
Outline of Obesity
Why is obesity a national health priority area?
Statistics
10% which is 1in 4 children are overweight or obese.
Obesity is the second highest contribution to the burden of disease.
74.91% of people aged 64-74 are overweight.
36.4% of people aged 18-24 are overweight.
Contributing causes and symptoms
Contributing causes:
- Your genes may affect the amount of body fat you store, and where that fat is distributed.
-Obesity tends to run in families. If one or both of your parents are obese, your risk of being obese is increased.
- If you're not very active, you don't burn as many calories.
- A diet that's high in calories, lacking in fruits and vegetables, full of fast food, and laden with high-calorie beverages and oversized portions contributes to weight gain.
- Some medications can lead to weight gain if you don't compensate through diet or activity.
- Research has linked social and economic factors to obesity. Avoiding obesity is difficult if you don't have safe areas to exercise. tives.
Symptoms of obesity:
- Breathing disorders
- Certain types of cancers
- Heart disease
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Gallbladder or liver disease
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Stroke
Treatment and prevention
Local support agency's
- Cancer council programs
- Health direct website or helplines
- Community collaborations of obesity
- Raising children network.
Health promotion strategies
In an effort to reduce rates of obesity in Australia the Government is rolling out the shap up Australia initiative that will assist Australians to identify credible sources of information on healthy weight, diet and physical activity. The initiative will bring an integrated approach to the efforts of a range of partners across government and non-government sectors to obesity prevention and physical activity promotion.